Lockheed Martin Trims Furloughs, United Tech Scraps Plans

Lockheed Martin (LMT) said Monday it scaled back furloughs to 2,400 employees amid a partial shutdown of the federal government, while United Technologies (UTX) scrapped its furlough plans altogether.

Although lawmakers in Washington failed to agree on a budget solution by Oct. 1, Congress did pass the Pay Our Military Act introduced by Republicans in the House. It was signed into law by President Obama on Sept. 30.

The Department of Defense decided over the weekend to start bringing back most of the civilian staff it furloughed last week.

Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest defense contractor by revenue, had indicated last week it would idle 3,000 workers on Monday.

The company said furloughs are still necessary because roughly 2,100 of those employees work on civilian programs. Another 300 are tied to Pentagon contracts.

“The Department of Defense’s decision will not eliminate the impact of the government shutdown on the company’s employees and the business,” Lockheed Martin said in a statement.

Boeing (BA) was also considering furloughs, saying on Friday it expected to idle workers at its Defense, Space & Security Unit. It didn’t specify how many employees might be affected, or when the furloughs would occur.

In a statement issued Monday, the company said it’s still evaluating the situation.

“We have not received any specific information from our defense customers about plans to reinstate part of their workforce, therefore it would be inappropriate to speculate about what it might mean for Boeing employees and operations,” Boeing said.

Lockheed Martin shares advanced 1.2% to $123.94 in mid-day trading. Boeing was down 37 cents at $116.83, while United Tech rose 34 cents to $104.61.